Top Three Myths That Are Killing Your Innovation Efforts
When I talk with small business owners about innovation, I often hear the same thing over and over.
“We need to innovate more.”
Most companies understand the need to innovate more. In fact, they want to innovate more. So, what’s holding them back from innovating? When I probe deeper and ask, “What’s impeding their innovation efforts?” I hear a lot of different responses such as:
“We don’t have enough resources to create new technology.”
“Our company just struggles to come up with great ideas.”
“We don’t have the right creative people.”
While I understand the struggles, these excuses are based on common myths and misconceptions about innovation. Below I’ll dispel some of the common myths that frequently pop up when talking about innovation.
Myth #1: Innovation means developing new products and new technologies.
While innovation often includes developing new products and technologies, that’s not the only way to innovate. Smart companies today are innovating by developing new service offerings, revenue models, customer markets, business models, and business processes. And keep in mind that it doesn’t necessarily need to be entirely new to be considered innovative. Your innovation could be a slight modification to one of your existing products for a new market. Or perhaps a complimentary service for your existing product. Or maybe even a different revenue model for your existing products and services. Think of any new idea that brings additional value to your customers as innovative.
Action Item: To improve your innovation efforts, initially resist the urge to create a new industry-disrupting product. Instead, start off by focusing on an incremental innovation to one of your existing products or services. Can you add new features? Can you sell it to a different set of customers in a new market? Are you able to change how your customers pay for the product? Can you change your business processes to drive down production costs? In other words, how can you make it more valuable to your customers? Once you flex your muscles on some smaller projects, you’ll be ready to tackle some larger innovation initiatives.
Myth #2: Innovation is for creative, and scientific people.
Sure, it’s helpful to have a team of creative and scientific people. But you don’t need to hire designers, scientists and engineers to start or improve your innovation efforts. You need to use the people you already have in your company. In fact, successful innovative companies make improvement a company-wide initiative. If you reserve innovation for only a handful of people, you’re probably missing out on important feedback and input from some of your employees who work deep in the trenches. By including your whole organization and encouraging candor in responses, you’ll get some terrific input reflecting a variety of perspectives.
Action Item: Depending on the size of your company (and how many leadership layers exist), you can’t invite everyone to participate initially. The key? Start small. Once you gain some momentum, you can expand it into a company-wide initiative. Your first step is to develop a decent sized group of people to kickstart your innovation efforts. Most companies make the mistake of only tapping into leadership or only including a handful of front-line members in the group. My rule of thumb is, if leadership consists of 10% of your company’s roster, then only 10% of the innovation group should come from the leadership team.
You want a team that can work on innovation efforts without being directed by leadership. Your best bet? Give them some guidelines and latitude in what they come up with. One more suggestion—don’t avoid the complainers and the outspoken. You want real feedback and ideas. Some of the best innovation ideas start with, “This sucks! Wouldn’t it be great if….”
Myth #3: Innovation requires a great idea to jumpstart efforts.
In short, if you’re waiting to start with some grandiose plan or the perfect idea, then you probably will never start. Or you’ll be waiting an awfully long time. You need to start somewhere—and you need to start now. We refer to this step as imperfect action. Your initial action will not be perfect, but it will serve as the catalyst for your innovation success.
Action Item: Determine what small step you can do right now that will move you forward in your innovation efforts. Understand that all your innovation success will come from trial and error and adjusting as you go along. Forget perfect—there is no such thing. Just start.
Conclusion
The reason that most companies find themselves stuck in an innovation rut is because they put up all these mental barriers. They fail to understand that innovation is a process and not a one-time event. It’s not magic. You don’t need a huge budget, expert employees, or a special creative laboratory. It’s not a solo job or a select group of people that innovate. The key is to start where you are with who and what you currently have.
I hope you find these insights helpful in your innovation efforts. The truth is that most companies struggle with innovation. Know that you are not alone. Lots of companies talk the talk but they don’t walk the walk.
In future blog articles, we will be exploring strategies and tips on how to create an innovation process that works for your company.
